2 This technical memorandum series is used for documentation and timely communication of preliminary results, interim reports, or similar specialpurpose information. Although the memoranda are not subject to complete formal review, editorial control, or detailed editing, they are expected to reflect sound professional work. The views and conclusions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the National Marine Fisheries Service. In addition, the mention of trade names or commercial firms is for information only and does not imply endorsement by the National Marine Fisheries Service. This report was prepared in fulfillment of reference order 40AANF issued to the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research. Suggested Citation: Bolten, A. B., H. R. Martins, and K. A. Bjorndal, editors Workshop to design an experiment to determine the effects of longline gear modification on sea turtle bycatch rates. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-OPR- 19, 50 p. Copies of this report may be obtained from: National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA USA (703) (800) (rush orders)

7 Acknowledgments This workshop was funded by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service. Additional support was provided by the University of the Azores, Department of Oceanography and Fisheries; the Azores Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; and the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research, University of Florida. We are grateful for the support of Barbara Schroeder and Earl Possardt of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service. v

8 Workshop to Design an Experiment to Determine the Effects of Longline Gear Modification on Sea Turtle Bycatch Rates Agenda 1 September 1998: All out of town participants arrive in Horta 2 September 1998: Workshop Day 1 (Location: Camara do Comercio) 9:30 10:00 Opening. Helen Martins (Workshop Moderator) Introduction of Participants Welcome. Helder da Silva Workshop Schedule. Alan Bolten 10:00 10:50 Background Presentations (Background presentations will be limited to 15 minutes with an additional 10 minutes for discussion) Objectives of the Workshop. Mário Pinho and Eduardo Isidro Review of swordfish longline fishery in the Azores (techniques, equipment, bait, etc.). Alexandre Silva 10:50 11:15 Coffee Break 11:15 12:30 Background Presentations, continued Review of available information on turtle bycatch in longline fisheries in the Azores. Manuel Serpa Review of longline observer program in the Azores. Rui Prieto presented by Alexandre Silva Review of POPA (Observer program for fisheries in the Azores) with respect to sea turtle observations. Rogério Feio 12:30 14:00 Lunch (We will eat as a group at O Barao) 14:00 14:30 Review of life history of sea turtles in the waters around the Azores. Alan Bolten 14:30 15:30 Presentation of an experimental design to stimulate discussion Eduardo Isidro and Mário Rui Pinho 15:30 16:00 Coffee Break 16:00 17:30 Experimental Design and Analysis Discussion of experimental variable, design and analysis 17:30 Adjourn Day 1 3 September 1998: Workshop Day 2 vi

9 9:30 11:00 Review of Day 1. Alan Bolten Schedule of Day 2 Development of experimental design and analysis. 11:00 11:30 Coffee Break 11:30 12:30 Development of experimental design and analysis, continued 12:30 14:00 Lunch (We will eat as a group at O Barao) 14:00 15:30 Development of experimental design and analysis, continued 15:30 16:00 Coffee Break 16:00 17:30 Finalize experimental design and analysis Begin discussion on the logistics for conducting the experiment (time of year, location, boats, etc) and development of budget 17:30 Adjourn Day 2 4 September 1998: Workshop Day 3 9:30 11:00 Review of Day 2. Alan Bolten Schedule of Day 3 Discuss and finalize logistics for conducting the experiment. 11:00 11:30 Coffee Break 11:30 12:30 Develop budget for conducting the experiment. 12:30 14:00 Lunch (We will eat as a group at O Barao) 14:00 15:30 Finalize budget for conducting the experiment. 15:30 16:00 Coffee Break 16:00 17:30 Workshop Review and Conclusions. Distribute assignments for Workshop Report Adjourn Workshop vii

13 Opening Remarks Helen R. Martins Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas Universidade dos Açores PT-9900 Horta, Portugal Ladies and gentlemen, I am very happy to have the honour to open this workshop and to be your moderator during these 3 days. I do think that we have managed to bring together the best people possible to reach our objective. First of all it is important that we get to know each other well in order to have a fruitful discussion. I would ask each of you to present yourselves by your name, place of work, and other information of interest. My name is Helen Martins or Helena Martins in Portuguese version. I am a researcher at the Department of Fisheries and Oceanography (DOP) of the University of the Azores, where I have worked for the last 22 years. (Other participants who introduced themselves in turn were: Helder Marques da Silva, Alexandre Silva, Eduardo Isidro, João Tátá Regala, Manuel Fernandes Serpa, Mario Pinho, Rogério Ferreira, Rogério Feio, Veronica Neves, Manuel Verissimo, Genuino Madruga, Jorge Gonçalves, José Sebastião Nunes, Jose Maria Ferreira Faria, Alan Bolten, and Jerry Wetherall). The topic of this workshop is the problem of marine turtles. These turtles constitute a group of ancient reptiles that already lived in the oceans more than 100 million years ago and existed in the time of the dinosaurs. They represent a distinct part of the bio-diversity of our planet. In the 18th and 19th centuries turtles were very abundant, and populations existed with more than a million individuals. However, during the last hundreds of years humans have destroyed the ability of turtles to maintain their numbers which have decreased drastically through intentional and accidental capture by fishermen, destruction of feeding areas and resting places, destruction of nesting beaches, and, more recently, pollution of the oceans. Today almost all populations show decline, some at a drastic pace and some are already extinct. Worldwide, there is a growing concern with accidental capture of sea turtles in commercial fisheries. Today all the turtle species in the Azores (5 species) are included in the Red List of IUCN as endangered and all marine turtles are included in CITES and in CMS. It is evident that a program to protect these animals from extinction has to be carried out on a global scale and through governments, scientists, fishermen and the general public. I do think that here in the Azores we have the opportunity to achieve such a collaboration. The result of this workshop may have importance also for other regions of the world's oceans. Thank you! 1

15 The Swordfish Fishery in the Azores: an Overview Alexandre Aires da Silva Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas Universidade dos Açores PT-9900 Horta, Portugal This paper aims to provide a background about the swordfish fishery in the Azores within the scope of the I Workshop on Sea Turtle Bycatch, Horta, 2-4 September Historical Background of the Fishery The swordfish (Xiphias gladius) fishery in the Azores has already been described (Pereira, 1988; Simões and Silva, 1994; Simões, 1995). The fishery started in 1987 following the strong incentives for swordfish exploitation given by the VII Azorean Fisheries Week as well as the good experimental fishing results obtained during (Fernandes 1987, Pousa, 1987). Prior to 1987, the capture of swordfish in the Azores was considered a bycatch of the demersal fishery with landings not exceeding 30 tons per year. Fleet Identification The longline fleet targeting swordfish in the Azores can be first divided into two main components according to place of registration: Azores and Mainland Portugal fleets. The Azorean fleet can be further classified into three main components according to physical characteristics of the vessels and fishing regime: the open-deck wooden boats (ODWB), smallsize cabin-deck boats (CDB 1 ) and large size cabin-deck boats (CDB 2 ). The average physical characteristics for each of the fleet components are given in Table 1. Table 1. Average physical characteristics for each component of the swordfish fleet operating in the Azores. ODWB: open-deck wooden boats; CDB 1 : small-size cabin-deck boats; CDB 2 : large-size cabin-deck boats; MPB - Mainland Portugal boats. Fleet Fleet component Overall length (m) Engine power (HP) Gross tonnage (GRT) ODWB Azores CDB CDB Mainland Portugal MPB The open-deck wooden boats (ODWB; Figure 1.A) consist of small-size fishing boats mainly operating within 3 miles off the coasts of S. Miguel Island (Simões, 1995). This artisanal fleet fishes for swordfish during the summer season and shifts to the demersal fish community in winter months. Longline sets with an average number of 800 hooks-per-set are carried out on a 3

16 daily trip basis. The open-deck wooden boats entered into the fishery in 1991, and have increased in numbers from that year (Figure 2.A). Seventeen fishing permits were given to this fleet component in Like the ODWB fleet component, the small-size cabin-deck boats (CDB 1 ; Figure 1.B) target swordfish during the summer season and shift to the demersal fish community in winter months. This type of boat lacks freezing capacity, staying for about one week at sea. One longline set is carried out per day using an average number of 1500 hooks. The fishing effort is mostly localized around the coastal areas and the fishing banks of the Central Island Group. This fleet component exhibited a strong increase in numbers during the early 1990s, peaking at 40 permits in 1993 (Figure 2.A). After that period, the number of permits given to component CDB 1 has declined continuously to 26 in Large-size cabin-deck boats fishing for swordfish throughout the year represent the third Azorean fleet component (CDB 2 ; Figure 1.C). This component conducts fishing campaigns that can take about a month at sea due to the large freezing capacity of the vessels. One longline set with an average number of 2500 hooks is carried out on a daily basis. During the winter months the large-size cabin-deck boats extend their fishing areas outside the Azorean EEZ. Number of fishing permits for the component CDB 2 reached a maximum of 20 permits in 1994, then declined to 9 permits in 1998 (Figure 2.A). The Mainland Portugal fleet fishing for swordfish in the Azores is similar to the Azorean CDB 2 component in physical characteristics of vessels and fishing regime (cf. Table 1; Figure 1.C). This fleet mostly lands in the Portuguese and Spanish Mainland, in the harbors of Aveiro and Vigo, respectively. Unlike the Azorean fleet, the number of fishing permits given to the Mainland fleet exhibited a strong increasing trend during the 1990s (Figure 2.B). A total of 15 permits was given to this fleet in Fishing Gear and Methods The longline gear consists of a mainline to which branchlines with hooks are sequentially attached at a fixed distance (Figure 3). The mainline is suspended in the water column with a system of buoys attached by floatlines. The gear configuration can slightly change according to the maximum desired fishing depth (i.e., changing the length of the floatlines). Two different types of longline gear are used in the swordfish fishery in the Azores: the Spanish and the US longline. Although both gears mostly use hook number 17/0, they differ in the type of the mainline, arrangement of gear components, and crew number (Fernandes, 1987). The type of mainline used in the Spanish longline is twisted polyethylene. In the US gear, the mainline is 3.50 monofilament nylon. All of the gear components of the Spanish longline (i.e., the mainline, branchlines and buoys) are assembled on land. The US longline components are stored separately onboard, with the gear being continuously prepared during the set. Lastly, the operation of the two types of gear involves a different crew number. The fishing crew for Spanish longline requires 15 men; this number is reduced to 7 men for US longline operation. 4

17 Although the Azorean fleet has adopted both the Spanish and US gears, the acceptance of the former has been gradually increasing in the region. The Mainland Portugal fleet mainly operates with the US longline gear. The swordfish fishing is carried out during night hours due to the negative phototropism exhibited by the species. For this purpose, the longline set finishes at dusk and the hauling operation starts at dawn. While the main type of bait used by the Azorean longline fleet is Spanish mackerel (Scomber japonicus), the Mainland Portugal fleet uses squid as well. The use of light-sticks in the swordfish fishery in the Azores is not a common practice. Fishing Areas Most of the fishing effort carried out by the Azorean and Mainland Portugal swordfish fleets is carried out in the waters around the Azores. A total of 5774 longline sets was reported in fishing logbooks during the period (see Figure 4 for distribution map). A proportion of 87.2% (n=5037) of these fishing operations are confined to the area 36-48º N, 18º-42º W (ICES X), which contains most of the Azorean EEZ. Although the incidence is low, the distribution of the Portuguese longline fleet in the North Atlantic extends to the waters off the Iberian Peninsula and the African coast. Identification of Bycatch Bycatch of the swordfish fishery in the Azores consists mainly of pelagic sharks, particularly the blue shark (Prionace glauca) and the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) (Silva et al., 1996). Other species such as the common thresher (Alopias vulpinus), bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus), smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena), tope (Galeorhinus galeus) and the galapagos shark (Carcharhinus galapaguensis) are also represented in the shark bycatch. The bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and blue marlin (Maikaira nigricans), respectively, represent most of the tuna and billfish bycatch. Bycatch of marine turtles in longlines targeting swordfish in the Azores is poorly known. Information on this issue was presented during this workshop (see Serpa and Prieto et al. in this volume). The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) is the species most commonly caught. The leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) has already been recorded during longline experimental fishing activities carried out by the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of the Azores (Silva et al., 1996). The bycatch of marine birds associated with the longline fishery in the Azores is virtually unknown. Fishing Seasons Two fishing seasons can be identified for the longline fishery targeting swordfish in the Azores: swordfish season and blue shark season. Catch rates for blue shark and swordfish exhibit a pronounced seasonal and asynchronic nature (Figure 5). While the highest catch levels of the former species are obtained in the Spring, the fishing season for the latter targeted species is 5

18 from May to December. Blue shark bycatch represents a major proportion of the total catch taken by the fishery, reaching a minimum of 22% and a maximum of 86%, respectively, during October and May (Figure 6). Shortfin mako catch levels are less than 5% of the total catch during the entire year. Landings of Swordfish and Pelagic Sharks Reported landings of swordfish, blue shark and shortfin mako in the Azores during the period are shown in Figure 7. Landings of swordfish exhibit a peak of 463 metric tons (mt) in 1995, followed by a decline to 178 mt in Reported catches of blue shark increased from 1993 to 1996, peaking in 1996 at 328 mt. After that period, landings declined to 92 mt in Although the discard levels associated with the swordfish fishery are not quantified, blue shark discards by the Azorean longline fleet are believed to be high. This conclusion is supported by the non-existence of a stable market and little demand for blue shark products within the Azorean region. Discard levels for this species by the Mainland's longline fleet are known to be extremely low. This results from the existence of two asynchronic fishing seasons for the targeted swordfish and for blue shark in the Azores (Figure 5), and the increasing demand for shark products in European markets (Fleming and Papageorgiou, 1997). Landings of shortfin mako in the region averaged about 8.2 mt per year during , with a maximum of 12 mt landed in Discard levels for this shark are extremely low due to the high quality of its meat. 6

29 Information on Accidental Capture of Marine Turtles in the Azores Manuel F. Serpa Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas Universidade dos Açores PT-9900 Horta, Portugal Unfortunately nothing has previously been recorded on accidental capture of sea turtles by the longline fleet in the Azores. This report is based on the personal experience of the author who has had the opportunity to take part in several longline fishing surveys from 1989 to This is a summary of my experiences. November 1989 to February 1990, F/V António Duarte. Experiment with winter longlining for tuna. Results of 32 sets: 910 blue sharks, 114 swordfish, 3 bigeye, 2 albacore, 8 mako sharks, 2 loggerheads and 3 leatherback turtles. Remarks: The small number of turtles was due to the fact that it was winter and that the target species was tuna which means that the lines were set too deep to catch turtles. June to September 1990, F/V IMAQ FISH. Experiment with longlining for tuna from Azores to Canada. However, as few tuna were caught, the gear was changed to target swordfish. Results from 30 settings: 4 bigeye, 7 yellowfin, 9 bluefin, 38 blue sharks, 39 swordfish, 20 loggerheads and 3 leatherback turtles. Remarks: Several turtles were caught in June and July, always on the hooks close to the buoys. At the end of July, we caught several large turtles (20 30 kg) WNW of Flores, Azores. Farther north, when 300 nautical miles from the Grand Bank, no more turtles were seen. November 1990, F/V IMAQ FISH. Experiment in longlining for swordfish. Results: 2 bluefin, 1 bigeye, 2 yellowfin, 1 albacore, 4 mako sharks, 104 swordfish, 8 loggerheads and 3 leatherback turtles. March to April Japanese longliner for tuna. Results: 3 loggerheads, and 2 leatherback turtles. Remarks: Very few turtles due to low temperature (15º to 16º C) and that the line was set as deep as 80 m, the target species being tuna. September to October 1996, F/V S. Miguel. Longlining for swordfish. Results in 22 sets: 10 tons of swordfish, 12 tons of shark, 0.5 tons of tuna, and about 100 loggerhead turtles. Remarks: 90% of the turtles were caught at Mar da Prata, south of S. Miguel and the Bank of S. Mateus, south of Pico. The water temperature was C. The bait was 75% mackerel and 25% squid. 17

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